As an example of such vehicle door opening/closing apparatus as above, there is known an apparatus including a take-up drum capable of taking up a length of cable disposed between the vehicle and a sliding door of the vehicle and a drive mechanism for driving the take-up drum. In operation, as the take-up drum driven by the drive mechanism takes up a length of the cable, the sliding door provided at a lateral portion of the vehicle is controllably opened/dosed. As for the disposing positions of the take-up drum and the drive mechanism, both a type in which these are disposed on the outer side of the vehicle and a further type in which they are disposed inside the sliding door are known. As an example of the latter type of disposing them inside the sliding door, there is known a vehicle door opening/closing apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 identified below.
In the vehicle door opening/closing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the take-up drum and the drive mechanism are disposed inside the sliding door, with the drum and the mechanism being integrated as a unit. These are disposed at a lower portion inside the sliding door which is formed relatively spacious, and the cable extended from the take-up drum is guided to the vehicle side via a relay mechanism disposed inside the sliding door.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 2003-74253